In Which Percy Watches Leo Fall Apart
by NBrokenShacklesN
Summary: One shot from change through flame verse. Read change through flame, or this will make no sense. Percy s P.O.V of chapter 18/19


**AN: OK, This story will make no sense, unless you have read my other story, Change through Flame. Basically it's Percy point of view on chapter 18- In Which Leo breaks down. Please give me a review... Hope you enjoy.**

In Which Percy Watches Leo Fall Apart

Percy, Annabeth and Grover had just finished lunch at the cafeteria, and were making their way back to the games arcade, when Percy glanced across the lobby area, and saw a very familiar face. Disbelief grew inside of him as he turned away from the others, and started running in the direction of the boy that looked exactly like Leo. He ignored the exclamations of Grover and Annabeth as he got closer to him. That was Leo!

He saw Leo glance at him, and the horror across his face, before he swerved round and legged it out of the door. By the look on Grover's face, he had seen him as well, and Annabeth seemed to be noticing that he fit their description of Leo and the statue in auntie M's. They chased him out the door, and down the road, ignoring the shouts and grumbles of pedestrians.

Annabeth caught up with him, and said, "I'm going to put on my cap, and go and catch him." Percy nodded, but kept on running, albeit at a slightly slower pace, man Leo could sure run fast. He was sure that it was Leo now, he had seen Leo run back at Nancy, and his run was exactly the same as this boy. Percy realised he was falling behind, and speed up slightly. He'd be sent to the fields of punishment before he let Leo get away again.

Percy watched as Leo stopped in front of an empty alleyway, and got his breath back. Or a not so empty alleyway... He saw Annabeth remove her Yankee's cap, and put her knife to Leos' throat. Leo went completely still, and even from how far away Percy was, he could see Leo shaking. Why would Leo be shaking? Either he was cold, which Percy doubted, as it was the middle of the summer, or... Or he really had taken the bolt, and was lying.

He wouldn't believe that of Leo! He couldn't... Leo was his best friend. Was. Percy didn't know what to do now. The part of him that was loyal to Olympus and his father said to kill Leo, or at least drag him in chains to the gods, but Leo had helped him more than the gods had ever done. Leo stood up for him, and helped him all the time. Even when Percy knew he was older, Leo insisted on taking care of him, like an older brother. Family, Leo was family, and he wouldn't let Leo die, unless his guilt was proven beyond doubt.

That being said, he would have to find out whether Leo was guilty, but short of asking him, Percy had no idea how. Well, there goes nothing "Leo, did you steal the bolt?" Percy was trying to sound cold, emotionless even; don't let him know you're hurting. But he could hear the pleading in his voice, almost begging Leo to prove it wasn't him, and it made him sound weak. He couldn't afford to be weak. Not here, not in front of the boy he considered a brother, who was accused of the same crime he himself was.

He saw Leo begin to open his mouth, looking up from the floor, till he was interrupted by Annabeth. ""Why are you even asking him? We know he did it, even the gods told us so." Percy stepped closer to where Annabeth was holding Leo at knife point, out of the light of the street lamp. Leo was looking at the floor, trembling, his breathing coming in short gasps. He looked terrible, and this was coming from the boy who had fought Echidna. He had blood across his neck... Wait, blood!

"Annabeth, you're killing him!" Grover's voice shocked Annabeth into relaxing her grip on Leo, and he fell to the floor, gasping. Percy ran to his side, and knelt down, feeling Leo's pulse, it was faint and seemed to be getting weaker. Alarmed, Percy reached into his backpack and pulled out some ambrosia left, feeding it to him quickly. He watched as Leo's breathing became more regular, and let out a relieved sigh. What had Annabeth been thinking?

Percy turned around with a scowl on his face, ready to yell at Annabeth, only to see her hunched up on the floor, her knife fallen out of her grip, looking like she was about to cry. "I almost killed him, almost killed someone, a demigod- like me. What was I thinking? What if he was innocent and I had killed him? I... I... That's not how a daughter of Athena should act."

Percy sighed, why was he beginning to feel like the only sane person right now? He went and sat next to Annabeth, putting his arms around her. "Come on wise girl, even you can't be perfect, just apologise when he wakes up yeah. It's ok, he's not dead." He sat in silence as Annabeth turned to him, and began to cry into his chest. He felt decidedly uncomfortable at that. A girl was crying on him for Poseidon's sake, but he couldn't bring himself to hurt his friend by pulling away.

Eventually Annabeth's sobs slowed, and stopped, and she emerged from his hug, with her face turning scarlet. "This never happened seaweed brain."

"Sure."

Annabeth looked at him suspiciously, red rimmed eyes searching him for something. Seeming to find what they were looking for, Annabeth instead moved over to Leo, and began dragging him to a nearby lamppost. Percy stumbled to his feet, a question on his lips, which was answered before he even spoke it.

"I'm tying him to the lamppost, so that if he wakes up when we're not looking he can't run off, we still don't know if he's guilty or not."

Percy frowned at that, at moved over to her. "If he were guilty he would've flamed on while you were holding him, and gotten away like that. He didn't, he didn't want to hurt you."

She mumbled something that Percy couldn't hear, and then asked... "Flamed on?"

"Set himself on fire."

"Oh, and you conveniently forgot to tell me he could do that!" Annabeth stormed off to talk to Grover, and Percy went and stood in front of Leo, seeing his eyes flickering, then opened. "Leo, you're awake." Oh, state the obvious much, thought Percy, if Leo doesn't make a joke out of this, I'm a satyr. However, no joke was forthcoming from the barely conscious boy, and that worried Percy, Leo always had time for jokes.

He lent forward, and heard Leo muttering, "...On the Styx, I didn't take the bolt, I swear!" Percy heard thunder in the distance, and couldn't stop the joy that leapt up in him. His brother was innocent; Leo didn't steal the bolt... He knew it!

But Leo was still talking, and his tone of voice was freaking Percy out. Leo, to put it bluntly, sounded dead. All humour had drained from his voice, all Leo-ness had gone, and it made him more worried than ever. What if the cut was too deep, horror grew in Percy's heart. What if Leo was dying?

Percy leant further forward, fear and sorrow filling his brain, he barely registered Leo words. "... I knew the gods would think it was me, and if the attention was on me, then it was off you, and..." Percy's mind went blank, Leo had run, to make it seem like he was guilty, to protect him! And Percy had thought he was a coward. Self disgust rocketed through him, how could he have thought that?

" Leo..." But it didn't seem that Leo was listening, his mumbles continued.

"...I know you don't want to be my friend anymore..."

"Leo"

..."Please don't hate me..." Alarm rushed through Percy, joining the mix of emotion that was making his stomach queasy. This was so wrong, Leo never fell apart like this, it was wrong, it shouldn't be happening, not Leo. And then Percy felt the harsh taste of guilt on his tongue. He had done this to Leo, what sort of a friend was he? How did Leo think that Percy hated him, he could never hate him, never.

Leo fell forward, and Percy reached out reached forward, and caught him, muttering back. "...Leo, I don't hate you, I don't hate you Leo, I'll never hate you Leo. Never." He wrapped his arms around the fallen form of Leo Valdez, and only when Leo was calm and quiet in his hold, did he let his own tears fall.


End file.
